Flicker
by 1hellyeahz1
Summary: When Kakashi doesn't get to the battle on the hospitol roof on time Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are sent back in time to when they are six years old. ADOPTED BY ECHO UCHIHA.
1. Chapter 1

All was quiet.

Images, or were they memories, flew past him. He heard a faint humming that steadily grew louder as time dragged on. Naruto sensed two people next to him.

Sasuke and Sakura. How did they get here? then he remembered.

They were on the hospitol roof. Sasuke was above him with a Chidori and he was below with a rasengan. Sakura had beed running towards them screaming for them to stop. But they didn't. And now...

The humming noise grew to a irritating high pitched whine (**a:n have your ears ever rang? kinda like that) **which made naruto's ears want to bleed. Then everything stopped and the world went black.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Where was she? Subtly she remembered Sasuke and Naruto fighting on the hospitol roof, their attacks merging, a high pitched, veryannoying might she add humming, the blacking out. Sheesh, what did she eat before going to see Sasuke-kun?

Just as she was about to scold her teammates for trying to kill each other -well at least Sasuke-kun but whatever that blue ball of chakra was it was powerfull; that much she knew- she noticed something wasn't quite right. She was in her room at her house. How was that possible? Everything around her seemed larger as well. Not good.

She looked into the mirror next to her bed and gasped.

She looked like she was about six years old! her bangs flopped down on her face and covered her forehead. _What the hell? Is this some kind of sick joke? Why am i six? _

She backed away and flopped on her bed. _Those two attacks, they were extremly powerful. I could actually see the chakra coming off them. _She shivered and drew her arms and legs towards her. _Is it possible they made some sort of vortex? it would explain the white empty space. And the memories...what if...no...but..._

_What if the were actually events? And somehow...we are in the past? _

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

This isn't possible.

No.

His mom and dad were dead. He watched them die damnitt! _This is just a genjustu. Some very elaborate and detailed genjustu. _He stood up from the table and -not bothering to exuse himself; this was a genjustsu so why should he care about manners?- left and went to the bathroom to try and dispell it.

Or at least tryed to. Fuck. Whoever made the genjustu knew alot about his family it seemed.

"Uchiha Sasuke, sit down at once and eat the dinner your mother made you." His father did not look happy. He just did a very un-Uchiha like thing. But he didn't give a damn. This was a genjustsu so he ignored him. But them Itachi intervened.

"Sasuke-kun, please sit down. its very rude to walk out on dinner without exusing youself. You should know better." It took every bit of his willpower to not try and kill Itachi when he turned around and looked at him. Itachi must have seen the anger in his eyes because he then asked, "Sasuke-kun, is there something wrong?"

Sasuke shook his head. Well if this is a genjustsu might as well play along. "I'm sorry, Aniki, i'm not feeling well and spaced out. Mother? Father? May i go to bed? I know it's early but my stomach really hurts and i don't think i could eat anything. I also really don't want to pass anything i might have to you." He downcast his eyes and looked solomn.

"Of course, Sasuke." His Mother answered. "I'll be up after dinner to check on you. Get some rest, okay?"

Sasuke smiled and shuffled to his room, acting the part of the sick child with a stomach ache. He almost felt guilty about lying to his mother. Almost. he reminded himself that this was a genjustu and she wasn't real. His real Mother was dead.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Naruto! Naruto! Damnitt Naruto open this door or I'll break it down!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Geez, can't you wait until the sun is up to bother me?"

Sakura tapped her foot impatiently. She needed to tell Naruto that they were in the past before he did something stupid. It was the only logical explanation she could come up with. She chewed her bottum lip nervously. She only had a few hours because she had to leave before her parents got up. Luckily she remembered that they were part of the group in the village that didn't just avoid Naruto, but hated him with a passion. Unfortanetly for her that had rubbed off on her. Watching him fight in the chunnin exams though and hearing about him protecting the village fom Gaara though had helped her come to her senses.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here so early? And whoa! You've de-aged too!" Sakura sweatdropped. De-aged? Is that what he came up with? How dense can you get? "Aw, you look so adorable Saskura-chan!"

Not wanting to wake anyone up she chose to ignore the comment and restain herself from punching him.

"Listen, Naruto, we haven't de-aged. We've gone back in time six maybe seven years."

Naruto blinked, "What? G-gone back in time? How?"

"Shh! My parents hate you with a passion! If anyone tells them I'm here I'll be in huge trouble. Please, Naruto, let me come in and I'll explain to you what I've come up with."

"Okay, come in. just excuse the mess please. I don't usually have visitors." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Thanks," She stepped in grinning, she knew the apartment was usually messy when she came in but assumed that when Naruto was younger the sandaime at least made sure the apartment was kept in order. How bad could it be?

_Oh my god. _Was the only thing that passed through Sakura's mind as she stepped into six year old Uzumaki Naruto's apartment.

Two hours later Sakura and Naruto emergered from Naruto's apartment.

"Naruto, if your apaprtment ever looks like that again i will pummel you so bad even the Hokage won't recognize you."

"Yes, Sakura-chan, geez you're a slave driver. I mean, i know it's bad, but its been worse."

Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples. Gods. For a neat freak like her nothing was worse than that...that place. She told Naruto right of the bat that he would know nothing of her theory until _every _artical of clothing was off the floor and _all _the empty ramen cups were in the trash, dishes were done and bed made. She owed him her life. Had he not been with her when the were fighting Gaara she would be dead. The least she could do was ensure that his living enviroment was healthy.

"I'm really sorry Naruto but I need to go before my parents find out I'm gone. I'll be back tommorrow morning at the same time. Tell Sasuke about my theory. Also," She placed her face new Naruto's and menacingly whispered, "If your apartment isn't clean by the next time I'm here you will be in alot of trouble." she cheerfully turned around. "Well, bye! See you tommorow!" and left.

Naruto went back into his apartment and groaned. Now he knew why Shika thought girls were troublesome.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Sasuke sweatheart, how are you feeling." Sasuke's mother's heart shapeface smiled at him as she gently woke him up.

"Alot better, Mother. My stomach doesn't hurt anymore. But I'm really hungry."

"I'll warm up some breakfast for you okay? I let you sleep in this morning, but i made sure your father and brother left you some. Come on"

Ten minutes later he was about to dig into his breakfast when-

"OI! SASUKE-TEME! OPEN THE DOOR! I HAVE A REALLY IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM SAKURA-CHAN FOR YOU!" There was only one person in existance that he knew of who had the guts to scream that loud in the Uchiha compound. What the hell? _This genjustu keeps getting weirder and weirder. I don't know how the person who put me in this genjustu knew Naruto could scream that loud. Wait, scratch that, anybody who was in the Chunnin Exams would know. The dobe did scream at them that he would defeat them all. _

A small frown apeared on Mikoto's face. "And who could that be? Sasuke, is this one of your friends?"

"Eh...yeah. We sort of have nicknames for each other. He's dobe, I'm teme." Sasuke ran to the door and found a very irritated looking Naruto on the other end. "Dobe, what do you want? All you had to do was knock. You didn't have to yell and notify the entire compound that your here." he hissed quietly enough so that his mother wouldn't hear him.

"I need to talk to you. In private." He said, quietly this time. Looking around as if paranoid that somebody was watching and listening.

"Fine. Just a sec." He shut the door and went back into the kitchen. "Mother, is it all right if Naruto and I play in my room?" Mikoto started at the name 'Naruto' but regained her composure.

"It's fine, but first finish your breakfast." Sasuke smiled, playing the part of a dopey six year old. "Thanks!"

He went back to tell naruto the news.

"Just wait a few minutes i have to finish my breakfast." He wolfed down the meal in record time. All part of his act, play the child who can't wait to spend time with his friend. The idiot who hasn't realized this is all a genjustu. Another ten minutes passed and he was in his room with Naruto.

"So what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Look, Sasuke, I dunno what you think happened when your Chidori hit my Rasengan but Sakura-chan came to my house a few hours ago to tell me she thinks we've gone back in time."

"Hmm...you could go on or i could you my theory, dobe. I think I'm under a genjustu. So i need you to prove to me that this isn't one."

"All right," Naruto said, an evil smirk crossing his face. He balled his hand into a fist.

WHAM!

"What the hell, Naruto!"

"Ha! The genius can't even remember how to dispell a genjustu!"

An hour later the pair left Sasuke's room. Sasuke would meet at Naruto's apartment at the same time as Sakura. They needed to discuss what they would do about their situation and they would have the least chance of being overheard at Naruto's place.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, now which step is the one that creaks?

Sasuke hadn't stayed in the Uchiha Mansion after the massacre. Too many memories. Instead he bought an apartment that nobody had died in, nobody in the clan had anything to do with, and, best of all, was brand new. No blood stains at all. Now he was at the top of the stairs trying to figure out which step was the one that creaked. He resisted the urge to bash his head against the wall.

Tentitvly he took a step down.

Creak.

Sasuke jumped at the noise, accidently tripping on his feet that were about five sizes smaller than they were twenty-four hours ago. Instinctively he tried to catch himself.

Instinct remembered himself as almost five feet.

_Oh shit..._

But before he could land on his head somebody grabbed him from behind and helped him keep his balance.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing up at four in the morning."

"Umm..."_ Damnitt! Think! What would my six year old self have said in a situation like this?_ "Well..." A questioning eyebrow went up.

"Sasuke-kun, could you come to my room for minute? I need to ask you something." Sasuke nodded and followed Itachi to his room.

"What is it that you need to know, Aniki?" Itachi sighed and cast a privacy justu over the room. If Sasuke wasn't nervous already he was now. Suddenly Itachi was over him with a kunai at his throat.

"Who are you and what have you done with my little brother?" Itachi asked with a suprisingly calm demeanor. Sasuke gasped and managed to stutter out,

"Aniki! What are you talking about? It's me, Sasuke!" Itachi's sharingan activated.

"Prove it,"

"P-prove it? Why the hell are you asking that? Your sharingan is activated! You can tell that I'm not using a henge or a genjustu!" Sasuke backed up and Itatchi allowed him to, placing the kunai back in its holster but keeping his guard up.

"Then explain to me this," Itachi narrowed his eyes, "why have your chakra levels gone from pre-academy to high genin/ low chunnin?"

Sasuke lowered his head. Naruto and Sakura aren't going to like this. "I-" He faltered, Itachi leaned in.

"Yes?"

"It's a long story and you will need to come with me to Naruto's apartment if you want to hear it! I won't tell you without their permission!"

"All right, but one more question." Sasuke stared indifferently at him. He wouldn't let Itachi know he was practicly wetting himself. "Have you been doing anything illegal?"

Sasuke almost passed out with relief. He smiled, "No, Aniki. I haven't."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Go away...I'm sleeping!"

"Dobe, open the door!"

"Ugh...fine, Teme! Geez! don't get your panties in a twist." Naruto opened his door and blearily looked up at the two brothers, tensing when he saw Itachi. "Umm...Sasuke, who is he?"

"My older brother. Had to bring him."

"Oh, well, can we trust him?"

"Do we have a choice?" This statement confused Itachi. Didn't his little brother trust him? As he pondered this Naruto and Sasuke were still arguing.

"Why did you bring him, Sasuke? I thought we agreed yesterday we wouldn't tell anybody about what happened!"

"Because he noticed that my chakra levels were almost to chunnin level instead of pre-academy like they should be! Besides I haven't told him about you-know-what! I'm waiting for Sakura to get here to tell him about that." Right on cue there was another knock on the door.

"Naruto-baka, open the door. It's Sakura!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"Sorry I took so long. Did I miss anything?" She noticed Itachi and cocked her head in confusion. "Naruto, Sasuke-kun, who is he?"

Sasuke sighed, "My older brother, Itachi."

"Why is here? Did one of you tell him? I told you not to tell anybody about you-know-what!" She sent the scariest glare a six year old could muster and sent it towards them.

"Actually, I noticed that Sasuke's chakra levels had risan considerably overnight. Your reserves are also unusually large considering your age." Itachi nearly sweatdropped as he felt Naruto's chakra reserves. _Kami...how many six year olds have twice as much chakra as an average jonin?_ Itachi became nervous when he saw Naruto glaring at him.

"Oh," Sakura began, "So I guess we have no choice but to tell him." She sighed, but then as intuition hit her, perked up. "Do you know how to perform a privacy justu?"

Itachi smirked, "I learned it when i was ten."

"Could you cast one over the apartment?"

"Certainly," Everyone was quiet as he cast it. then, "Now, will someone tell me what is going on?" As he said this Sasuke finally blew up.

"What's going on?" He gave a sarcastic laugh, "Ha! You murdered everyone in our clan! Then you tell me that it was all to test your new power!" He lunged at him to grab Itachi by the collor of his shirt, only to trip again on the feet his body's new intelligence wasn't used to. He curled up on the floor, choking noises coming from him. "Yet, I can't believe you would do it only for power. So why, Itachi, why?" Sasuke looked up at his older brother's bewildered face.

"Sasuke," Naruto spoke up, "You can't accuse Itachi of something he hasn't done yet. It isn't fair to him, or you. I thought we went over this at your house." He dragged Sasuke away from Itachi and stood between the two. "Itachi, this is kinda hard to explain, and harder to believe, but we are from the future." Itachi stared at him and raised an eyebrow.

"And how far into the furure would you be from?" The pinkette visibly winced.

"Six possibly seven years." Itachi nodded,

"What did Sasuke-kun mean when he said I murdered the Uchiha clan?" Sakura paused,

"I...don't know the details...but what the academy told us was that you went insane and slaughtered you entire clan, leaving only Sasuke-kun alive." She bowed her head. "Though, I never thought I'd say this, Naruto is right. It is unfair to blame you at this moment because you haven't done it yet." She looked up. "Itachi, you could probably imagine what effect the Uchiha clan massecre had on Sasuke-kun just from his actions today! I'm begging you! Don't repeat what you did in the future!"

Itachi looked at Sakura, his eyes spinning red and black. "I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to avoid murdering my family. I do not know why I would have done it at this point, but i imgine i will be finding out soon enough."

"You better, Itachi," Naruto joined in, "Because if I ever see Sasuke get hurt like that again, I will kill you." Itachi had know doubt Naruto meant those words as he looked into Naruto's eyes. Naruto smiled when Sasuke joined them. "Great! We're all here! Now lets get to business! First of all, what should we do about the academy?"

"I think you three should live up to your full potential." Itachi said, the trio look at him confusedly.

"Wouldn't that be a bit suspicious?" Sasuke questioned,

"Not quite since your first day is tommorow." he answered

"But I come from a civilian family! And if we show our full potential wouldn't they be a little curious as to why there are three geniouses in the same year?" Sakura asked,

"Then downplay it a bit."

"But we might get placed on a different team..." Naruto stated glumly.

"Not nessesarily, the teams are made up of comparing the incoming genins and placing them in teams that complement their strangths and weaknesses. For all we know, if we play our cards right, we will be placed on the same team." Sasuke said, begining to like the new plan.

"And if I do well enough in the academy I might be able to actually gain the respect of the village! Who knows, maybe I'll make Rookie of the Year!" Naruto jumped up and down in excitment.

"In your dreams, Naruto! That spot is for Sasuke-kun only!" Saskura yelled

"But Sakura-chan..." He whined. Inner Sakura laughed evilly.

****

"Cha! Take that! You'll never beat my Sasuke-kun!"

"Besides, to take Rookie of the Year you'll have to beat Sasuke-kun, which you'll never do."

"What! I could kick that Teme's ass to the edge of Fire Country any day!"

"Hn," grunted said Teme

Itachi coughed quietly and the trio grew quiet once again. "Unless one of you wants to be dead last, I wouldn't suggest going for the title Rookie of the Year."

"Why not?" They asked at the same time.

"The Rookie of the Year is traditionaly paired with the dead last to encourage the said person to become stronger. Though, its a bad tradition in my opinion. With the exception of Maito Guy and Jiraiya-sama, pairing the best with the worst wrecks havoc on teamwork, slows the team down, and frustrates the dead last because he knows they are slowing the team down. Eventually the teammate will either drop out or get killed on mission because they were pussing themself to better then they were physically able to do."

The trio didn't speak but they were all thinking the same thing. Thats what almost happened to us.

"So what should we do?" Sasuke asked,

"For now, nothing. Just do what you are capable of doing and get used to your new bodies. You won't have to worry about your class status for a couple more years." Itachi turned to Sasuke. "We should get back before we are missed, you too Sakura. Naruto, get some rest. You'll need it. I have decided to help train you three." He smiled and before any of them could say anything about his statement he dispelled the privacy justu and shunshined him and Sasuke back home.

"That was-" Naruto began,

"-interesting" Sakura finished, then "He's right, I need to go, but first..." She bustled into Naruto's kitchen took one look in his refridgerator and yelled, "Naruto! Get in here!"

Naruto groaned, Uh oh, she found then expired milk I was planning on throwing out today. He was wrong. Sakura found the moldy cheese.

OMAKE: In which a copy-cat is pranked and a banshee faints

Naruto cackled evilly making a few randomn villigers send terrified glances his way. In the past few weeks he had showed his potential and many of his usual haters had stopped sending him glares.

He was on a mission.

Mission objective: payback for everytime kakashi-sensei had been late to team meetings. A prank for every time he had made them wait two or more hours.

Seeing the evil plotting look on the chibi's face may villigers started backing away slowly. They had all experianced Naruto's sadistic, weird, or outrageous taste in pranks. And nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of this one.

All but a certain spirit watched with a nervous fear in thier eyes. The spirit instead watched with glowing pride. Her legacy would make a fine prankster. the village would learn to fear his prankster wrath. Kushina's eyes filled with comical tears as she watched son stalking off towards Kakshi's apartment. Whatever the pervert had done he had deserved it.

It was only because she was watching her son that she noticed the Hyuga heiress stal-cough cough-following Naruto again. Kushina furrowed her eyebrows while she thinked. I wonder what she's up too. Hmm...I'll ask her in her dreams tonight.

She sighed, if only she and Minato could talk to him during his dreams. But that was impossible. The seal prevented their aestral boddies from doing that. She was snapped out of her wishing as she noticed what her young genious was doing. A huge grin crossed her face. Naruto was setting up a trap that would fling a whipped cream pie into Kakashi's face as he stepped into the doorway. Her grin turned to a look of amazment as he then proceeded to take out a grocery list from his pocket and henged into an ordinary lokking civilian to purchase groceries. She shook her head in awe. That henged would have fooled even her if she hadn't been paying attention!

Motherly pride radiated off her. Naruto would be a legend and might even surpass his father at the rate he was going. That much was clear.

_See you bitch!_ She thought, a smug smirk crossing her face. thoughts turned towards a pink haired banshee frome her childhood who, even when she married, constantly threw herself at her husband before Kushina had died. _My son will be a legend! And then he proceed to marry your daughter who will be a tomboy!**(1) **Then all your grandchildren will their banshee grandmother while I still look as if I am 20!**(2) **BWAHAHAHAHAHA_!

All the way across the village, Mrs. Haruno, feeling an extremly strong wave of impending doom fainted.

She was haunted by nightmares of pink haired and fox whiskered grandchildren for many nights after that.

_Being a ghost is awsome! _Thought Kushina as she watched Mrs. Haruno faint. She then disapeared, gigling like a schoolgirl when she heard yelling coming from Kakashi's apartment.

****

(1)

The present Kushina only knows the non-fangirl side of Sakura since they disapeared around the time Sakura begins to stop being a fangirl...for the most part. And from what has been shown of her so far in the manga i am left with the impression that she would believe any self respecting kunoichi would be on the tomboy side. And have you seen Sakura in Shippuden?

(2)

I can't find her actual age when she died. And i don't think it was ever mentioned. If it was does anyone know it?

note: I need to apalagize for not noticing that half the chapter was missing. i only noticed because i saw the word count a couple hours ago. i looked through and found that the ending half of the chapter was missing. i do not know how this happened but as penance added an omake.

more notes: I found that making an omake was quite fun. i'm going to add them to the following chapters. making up weird randomn endings is really fun...


	3. Chapter 3

**Timeskip: 1 month**

Naruto was walking down the street holding a big bag of groceries, grumbling under his breath. He didn't understand what Sakura was so upset about. So what if his cheese had a little mold on it? You could always cut that part off, right? But as he tried to piont this out Sakura handed him a grocery list and pionted towards the door. Naruto nearly cried when he saw what she had ordered him to buy. What was so good about vegetebles

Naruto groaned. He loved Sakura and he was really happy that she had taken to looking out for his well being, but her mother henning could get really annoying at times. These were alot of groceries! Then he got and idea. Naruto ducked into and alley way and created a Shadow Clone.

"Okay! I need you to take these back to my apartment! Can you do that?"

"Of course I can!" The clone answered, looking annoyed. "What do you take me for? A weak Bunshin Clone? The most they can do is distract somebody!" Naruto #2 looked at the groceries and grimaced then smirked. "Tofu? Wow, she really has you whipped doesn't she?"

"What? I'll have you know that I am not in the least bit whipped! All Sakura-chan is doing is looking out for my well being!"

"Oh really? And how does she do that?"

"She makes me clean my apartment every morning, makes me eat vegetebles and other healthy stuff." He grimaced, "I only do it because if i don't she hits me. What are you smirking at?"

Naruto #2 was smiking at shaking with suppressed laughter. He took the groceries and ran off. "Nothing,"

Naruto decided he needed ramen.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Sakura sighed as she walked down the street with her mom. They were shopping and Mrs. Haruno kept trying to by her dresses. Sakura loved them, she really did. But she had a second chance at life and it would not be wasted. This time around she would be serious about being a kunoichi. This time around she would be able to protect her team.

"Mommy?" Sakura asked sweetly. Mrs. Haruno looked at her daughter.

"Yes dear?"

"I can't wear dresses anymore."

The older pinkette was shocked. Just a few days ago her daughter was the girliest girl you could find! "Why not sweetheart?"

"Because I'm going to be a ninja. A dress dress would get in the way of my movement. It could get caught on something and slow me down." She answered,

"Oh? Now where did you learn this?" Mrs. Haruno asked

"I can't remember what her name was. she came in to talk to us about proper dress for a kunoichi on the battle field, for training, and for different types of missions." Sakura lied,

"Well, I guess i can't argue with the logic, but you're still my daughter and while you are going to the academy you will wear what I want you to wear." She knelt down to her daughters level. "But for the time being I won't force you to wear any dresses, okay?"

Sakura smiled; Inner Sakura cheered.

**'Cha! Take that Ino-pig! I'm gonna be a better kunoichi than you could ever be!' **

That was when Sakura noticed a red ribbon being sold at one of the stalls.

"Mommy, look! Can I get it? I'll need something to tie my hair back." Mrs. Haruno smiled,

"Of course." She paid for the ribbon and turned back to the younger pinkette. "How about we get some lunch?"

O.O.O.O.O.O

Teuchi studied the boy that had walked into his bar. The boy vaguley reminded him of Kushina who had been one of his best customers six, almost seven, years ago. Sadly she died shortly after giving birth. He never found out what happened to the baby. He smiled. The boy looked like he could use some feeding up. He was much to thin in his opinion.

"Miso Ramen please!" He grined and jumped on a randomn stool. Teuchi proceeded to work on the ramen.

"Al right, hold your horses. Say, I always like to know my customers so how about you tell me your name?"

The boy smiled really wide. "Uzumaki Naruto at your service! Future Hokage of Konohagakure!" Teuchi was shocked. The boy's family name was Uzumaki but that would mean that Kushina...

Teuchi mentally shook his head. Sure he was the right age and his face happened to be her exact copy but he had no proof. He'd have to ask Naruto himself.

"Ha ha! Naruto huh? Well how would you like some naruto on the house?"

Naruto scowled, "Not funny! My name means maelstrom, not fishcake."

Teuchi was elated. Naruto's scowl brought down any doubts about him being Kushina's son. And if he was Kushina's son that meant that he was the fourths legacy!

_Flashback:_

_It was a bright and sunny morning in Konohagakure. The birds were chirping, streets were bustling. All was peaceful. _

_"DAMN THAT BASTARD TO HELL! LOOK AT WHAT HE'S DONE TO ME!" _

_Said bastard shivered in the hokage tower as his ANBU guards tenced when the wave of visious killer intent hit them. _

_Meanwhile Mikoto, Tsume and Yoshino were trying to calm down a fuming Kushina. _

_"Kushina, sit down and eat your Miso Ramen and pickles, please!" begged Mikoto_

_"But thats the problem! I normally hate Miso Ramen! Its my least favorite of the Ramen flavors! But now I can't seem to get enough of it!" Tsume let out a bark of laughter._

_"Don't worry Kushina! They're just pregnancy cravings. They'll leave as soon as the baby is born. I went through the same thing with Kiba." _

_"So is it going to be a boy or a girl?" Yoshino asked_

_"It's a boy and for that i am grateful. I don't want to risk it being a sissy pansy girl who can't lift a kunai for fear of being cut." She sighed, "I just hope he deosn't become girly like his dad." _

_"Does that mean the father is who i think it is?" Teuchi asked having overheard the entire conversation. _

_"What do you mean?" Kushina questioned, suspicious_

_"Well there is only one man in this village who you refer to as girly on a daily basis." Her blush was enough answer. Her friends looked confused but didn't press. _

_End of flashback:_

"Did you say your last name was Uzumaki?" He asked Naruto who was noisily slurping up noodles.

"Ye'! wh 'oo as'?" He answered, his voice slightly muffled by noodles.

"Well, I knew a custumer almost seven years ago who's name was Uzumaki Kushina. I was wondering if you knew if you were related in any way." Naruto's smile faltered and he looked down.

"I wouldn't know. I was never told who my parents were." This made Teuchi a little angry. Naruto was never told that he was the fourth's legacy? He shook his head and sighed, the Third Hokage must have a good reason...still...

"But I can always ask the old man! Hey, is that her name up on the wall over there?" Naruto pointed at a plaque on the wall.

_FASTEST BOWL OF RAMEN EVER EATEN AT ICHIRAKU RAMEN_

_40 SECONDS_

_CURRENTLY HELD BY UZUMAKI KUSHINA_

Naruto gaped, "Forty seconds? Man..." He almost looked deppresssed for a moment but then he looked up at Teuchi with stars in his eyes. "Can I see a picture of her? she is my new hero! Aside from the Fourth Hokage that is..." Teuchi reached into his wallet and pulled out a photo of her. Naruto stared in amazment at her red hair. "She's so beautiful!" Determination shone in his eyes, "I shall surpass her and eat a bowl in thirty seconds!" Teuchi smiled, then looked confused.

"What do you mean by the old man?" Naruto gave him a cocky grin.

"Thats what I call the Third Hokage because he's really, really old! I mean he even smells like old people..."

"Disrespectful as always I see." Naruto turned around to see a women with pink hair in her early thirties glaring at him with disapproval. He saw Sakura at her side and smiled. _This must be Sakura's mother. Wow, her mother sure looks uptight. _His first impression of her was that she looked like a vulture with pink hair.

"Oh, Mrs. Haruno, what can I get you?"

"Actually we were just-" She was cut off by Sakura.

"Chicken Ramen please!" Sakura bounded up to the stool next to Naruto and sat down. "Hey, Naruto, whats up?"

"This woman has my last name! The old man here says we might be related!" Naruto held up the picture of Kushina.

"Thats wonderful, Naruto! Wow, she's really pretty. I'm jealous." Sakura said as she examined the picture. In it Kushina was wearing a flowing blouse along with a long skirt. She was aranging a variety of flowers in a vase, her hair was in a long braid that reached her knees. Kushina looked about nineteen in the picture.

"Hmph, if she was your mother than you killed her. She died on your birth day from childbirth." Mrs. Haruno smirked and Turned her attention to her daughter, "Sakura, we're leaving." She lead Sakura out of the bar. Sakura sent an apologetic glance towards Naruto. Naruto just stared at the ground.

_Is it true? _Naruto continued to stare at the smiling women in the picture. _Did I really kill her? _

"Naruto?" Teuchi was fuming, _How dare that women? I know she didn't like Kushina but this is to far! _Teuchi pressed on, "Naruto, are you alright?" Naruto stood up and ran out of the bar, clutching the picture of Kushina tightly in his hand.

"Naruto!"

Omake:

Sasuke sat in the corner of his room rocking back and forth, his fathers words still running through his head.

_Flashback:_

_Sasuke sat brooding on the day at school. A jonin had come in to sub for the teacher when he had been called to the Hokage. The jonin complemented Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura many times on how nicely made their traps were. _

_Fugaku came into the room and saw Sauke brooding. He smiled excitedly. _

_"Sasuke your brood is perfect! Even better than Itachi's! Keep it up and you'll have the most fangirls in Konoha!"_

_Sasuke just stared as Fugaku left the room._

_End of Flashback: _

Outside of Sasuke's room Fugaku snickered and disapeared with a puff of smoke. He reapeared as Naruto who went into Sasuke's room.

"Sasuke, your mom came and sked me to come check on you! She said that you've been in your room for an hour just sitting in the corner!"

Sasuke just looked at Naruto and whispered, "I'm never brooding again..."

Naruto nodded and left the room. He met up with Itachi outside of the compound.

"Well?" Itachi asked

"Mission acomplished. Sasuke isn't gonna be brooding anytime soon."

**Fin.**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is a messege to anyone reading the fic: this story has been adopted by Echo Uchiha. **

Naruto didn't know where he was running to, he just knew he was running. He felt like a part of his heart had been ripped out and twisted beyond repair. All of these years he had held onto the belief that his parents would have loved him. Now he didn't know what to think. _Dad must have hated me for killing mom...Old Man must have told me that he died in battle so my feelings weren't hurt. Heh...no wonder I wasn't able to find any Uzumaki on the memorial stone..._ He collapsed and dimly observed that he was on top of the Fourth Hokage's head on the Hokage monument. _You're an idiot Fourth. To think anyone would readily accept a jinurriki is a fool's wish. _He curled up, tears slowly coming down his face.

Little did he know that a blond spirit was kneeling in front of him thinking the same thing.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

_I'm such a fool..._ Minato thought. He tried to reach out to comfort him but his hand went right through Naruto's body. _Damnitt! What do I do? _He then felt somebody's presence nearby and an idea struck him. Kushina had told him that a young Hyuga girl had the rare ability to see and hear spirits. The presence was definitely hers.

He walked over to her. _"Excuse me, little one, could you do me a favor?" _Hinata's head shot up and her eyes widened in alarm. He decided to continue, _"Could you tell my son about your mother. I think you heard the conversation at the ramen bar, right?" _The heiress nodded, Minato smiled. _"He really needs somebody who can assure him he didn't kill Kushina. He can't see me and neither Kushina nor I can contact him through dreams..._Minato had a longing look on his face. Hinata's heart almost broke. She was torn two ways. Would Naruto listen or would he shrug her off as useless? Looking at the ground she poked her fingers together.

_"He won't think of you as useless. Believe me, once you start talking he'll be hanging off of your every word." _He smiled again and Hinata saw that it was just like Naruto's in that it filled her to the brim with confidence. The sun glinted off of his hair making him look like an angel. Hinata nearly fainted when she realized that Naruto could look like this in ten years.

She nodded, Naruto needed her help. Who was she to turn that down? Hinata put on a brave face and marched forward. She placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke,

"N-Naruto-kun?"

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Sakura, I don't want you to ever associate with that boy, do you understand me?" Mrs. Haruno was leading Sakura down the street back to their house.

"I-but-Mommy, don't you think what you said to him was a little harsh? He is in my class and he's never intentionally rude to anyone!"

SLAP! Mrs. Haruno glared down at her daughter. "He is the reason your father is dead. I don't want to hear you speak of him again."

Sakura nodded and stared at the ground.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"So your mother died in childbirth too? And you don't blame your sister?" Naruto questioned. Hinata nodded and continued,

"My father may be strict, but he is not cruel. He knows that what happened was not her fault; or anyone else's." Hinata smiled, "I loved my mother and I was very sad when she died but it is not fair to blame Hanabi. The only thing she did was be born on that day." Naruto lowered his head. Hinata reached out to him again and Naruto surprised her by reaching out to hug her.

"T-thank you. Y-you d-didn't have t-to come and t-talk to me but you d-did." Naruto started to cry again. "You are one of the n-nicest people I k-know. I really like people like you." Hinata was in dumb shock. Naruto-kun liked people like her! She felt like jumping up and squealing for joy, running to Ino and shouting 'In your face!' But then she remembered that Naruto was still crying. Hinata placed her arms around him and hugged him back.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Sasuke looked down at the village from his vantage point on top of the Hokage Tower. He frowned when he saw Naruto run off, obviously trying not to cry. Then he saw Sakura's mother drag her off and slap her. For a moment he considered running after Naruto but then he saw The Hyuga girl follow him. He would be fine.

So it was Sakura then. Sasuke almost groaned. Her fangirl fanatics had died off this past month but...

Who knew what would happen if he saved her from her mother? He shuddered to think about it and almost started to brood but stopped himself. He jumped down and made his way towards Sakura.

Five minutes later:

"Yo,"

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura looked up and Sasuke inspected her face. There was a red mark across it like he had expected.

"Have you seen Naruto? I've been looking for him, Nii-san and I want to spar with him." Sasuke asked in an excited tone that any normal six year old would use. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Mrs. Haruno's eyebrows furrow. **(a/n: if I spelled that wrong tell me because I don't have spell check :) )** Her response was not what he expected.

"I have never heard of anyone named Naruto, Sasuke-kun." She replied in an emotionless tone. Sasuke was in shock-and slightly angry-until he saw an approving look in her mother's eyes. Confused he nodded, wondering to himself just what the hell was going on.

"Right...well sorry for bothering you Sakura but I have to find him. Nii-san and I really want to spar with him; he's good at sparring." And then he ran off.

Sakura watched him leave; blinking back tears she turned around and followed her mother back to her house.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Naruto!" The raven-haired boy finally spotted his best friend talking to some girl on top of the Fourth Hokage's head. Naruto then proceeded to hug her and leave again. At first Sasuke thought that Naruto had heard him but Naruto seemed to be heading in the opposite direction of him.

"Hey! What's your name?" The girl was silent. "Um...hello?"

"Huh? O-oh...h-h-hello..." She stared quizzically at him with lavender eyes. Sasuke almost blushed, but he was a Uchiha and Uchihas do not blush. "W-what is y-your n-name?" Sasuke couldn't help it. A tinge of pink washed over his face. "A-are y-you all r-right?" She asked,

"Have you seen Naruto? I need to talk to him."

"O-oh...N-N-Naruto-kun went..." She sighed dreamily, then blushed as she caught herself, "...I actually d-d-don't k-know w-where he w-went...gomenasai..." She bowed her head and quickly left. Sasuke sighed; maybe he should wait until tomorrow when he'd see Naruto at the academy. But Sasuke went off in Naruto's direction anyway. The dobe needed someone to watch over him or he'd get into who knows what kind of trouble. _Oh well, might as well take a leaf from Shikamaru's book..._

"This is troublesome..."

Out in a field, lazily watching clouds, a pineapple haired six year old sneezed, disrupting his cloud watching.

_Troublesome..._ He thought because it was to troublesome to voice his opinions out loud.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

The waterfall streamed down into a glittering pool at the bottom. Somewhere there was a robin singing cheerfully in the dense forest.

It was beautiful.

It was the only place Naruto could escape everything.

One time he found Hinata here. Apparently she came to the waterfall often to escape her family problems. Naruto begged her not to tell anyone about the place; no doubt the villagers, if they found out about it, would destroy the waterfall. Naruto sighed, even if he had only found the place after he had traveled back in time it still felt like he had known this place forever.

"Naruto? Where are you?" Naruto nearly laughed, it never occurred to him that the teme might disrupt the beautiful serenity of his waterfall. Although...ever since they had gone back in time and Sasuke had renewed his relationship with Itachi he had been much less of a teme...sort of. "Listen dobe, come out. I don't want you getting into trouble." The muscle under Naruto's eye twitched

"Nani? Who are you calling a dobe? I'm not dead last anymore!" Naruto yelled,

Sasuke couldn't help it. It was something so much like what Naruto would say so he quit worrying and laughed.

"Um, Sasuke-teme, are you laughing?" This only made Sasuke laugh harder.

Pretty soon the laughing fit was over. Naruto continued to stare though.

"Sorry-wheeze- about that-gasp-it must have-wheeze-weirded you out..." Sasuke managed to say while regaining his breath. Naruto sweatdropped, "Anyways, Naruto, you'll always be a dobe to me. It doesn't matter where you are in the class ranking. He looked around and gasped, "Naruto, how did you find this place?" Naruto shrugged.

"The villagers constant leering was starting to get to me after not seeing it for so long after i became a genin. I took a walk trying to find somewhere that nobody was glaring at me and found this place." He squinted his eyes at Sasuke, "Why do you ask?"

Sasuke chewed on his lip. "I found this exact waterfall after Itachi slaughtered our clan. Everyone pitied me; I hated it. I didn't want pity, didn't want people trying to comfort me. I just wanted to be left alone. It sounds wishy washy, I know, but it's the truth." He bent his head so that his bangs hid his face. Naruto leaned back and stared at the clouds.

"Do you think the villagers believe I'm the reason my mother is dead?"

"Huh?"

Naruto held up the picture of Kushina. Sasuke took it and studied her and smirked. "Except for the hair you two look just like each other." Naruto narrowed his eyes,

"What exactly are you implying, Teme?" Sasuke smirked again, this time it was evil.

"You look like a girl."

"Nani? What the fuck do you mean like that?" A huge tick mark appeared on Naruto's face.

"Exactly what I said."

"I do not look like a girl!"

"Oh? But what about that transgender justu you made up? That makes you look exactly like a girl." Sasuke's smirk grew wider at the horrified look on Naruto's face.

"Oh. My. God. That justu is turning me into a girl!"

"Dobe! no justu could turn you into a girl! I'm just saying that because of that justu you made up you might subconsciously have a gender identity crisis!"

"Are you an idiot Teme? I see the proof that I'm a boy every morning!"

"Hn...Whatever Dobe. You just keep on believing that."

Naruto sighed, "Do you think she blames me? Do you think my dad blames me?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment. "If they do...then they're not your parents."

"N-nani?"

"Parents wouldn't blame their child for something like that." He said sharply, "Maybe they might be your mother and father biologically...but if they blamed you...then in everything else they couldn't be your parents. To call themselves that would be a disgrace. I-it happened once in our clan...a mother died during childbirth and the father blamed the child. I knew her...she...her father he..." His fists clenched, "When she was five her dad murdered her. Afterwards he killed himself."

"Did you love her?"

"I was five...I wouldn't know..."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

_Tick...tick...tick...tick..._

Her bedroom clock was very annoying. Sakura considered smashing it.

_Tick...tick...tick...tick..._

She sighed, _what am I doing? I need to find Naruto! I need to see if I can make up for what my mom said to him! _Inside though, she knew it didn't matter. There wasn't anything she could say that would help. Hell, Naruto probably didn't ever want to speak to her again. _Don't think like that! _She scolded herself, _Naruto loves you, it wouldn't matter to him...what am I thinking...of course it would matter to him...my mother accused him of killing his mom. _Curling up she felt hot tears slide down her face. _Mom, what did you mean when you said that he's the reason my father is dead? He died the night the Kyuubi attacked and Naruto had just been born so..._ A broken sob escaped her carefully closed mouth. _Why does everything have to be so confusing this time around? _

_Tick...tick...tick...tick..._

As annoying as the ticking was it was strangely comforting. At least something stayed the same.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Okay class, take your seats!"

Yawning and grumbling the ninja's in training marched through the rows of desks. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all sat next to each other.

"Neh, Sakura-chan! Did I ever show you the picture of my mom?" Naruto aimed his usual foxy grin at the shocked pinkette.

"H-huh?"

"My mothers photo, Sakura-chan!" Naruto started waving it in front of her. Sakura was so relieved that she almost hugged him. Naruto was still on speaking terms with her!

"Hai, Naruto."

"Dobe, stop waving that around, it's annoying."

"Teme! I'll wave it around if I want to!"

"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke quiet down!" The trio gulped, Iruka-sensei was staring them down.

"Yes Iruka-sensei,"

"Okay, now that everyone is settled we'll start on today's lesson. The clone justu is..." The trio stopped listening. They had already mastered that justu.


End file.
